The Science of Integrative Medicine (HD)

Perhaps you’ve heard rumors about an herbal supplement that acts as the Fountain of Youth, improves your mood, and helps you lose weight. Maybe you’ve considered trying hypnosis to stop smoking, but you’ve heard it might be just a waste of money. You may be curious about how getting stuck with many sharp needles can actually alleviate pain and stress—when it seems like it should do the opposite.


If you’ve ever considered herbal supplements, meditation, acupuncture, yoga, or even a change of diet to promote better health, then you already know that the subject of what’s been called “alternative medicine” is both intriguing, offering help for conditions that might seem hopeless, and controversial, with its effectiveness touted by some and scoffed at by others.

The Science of Integrative Medicine, produced in collaboration with Mayo Clinic—widely regarded as one of the finest health institutions on the planet—provides you with 12 informative lectures on the science-based facts and historical context of commonly used integrative treatments. Delivering a foundational explanation of this wide and diverse new field of medicine, this course is designed to empower you and give you the knowledge you need to explore how to use these techniques to improve your wellness. Taught by Brent Bauer, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic’s Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, this course provides you with an illuminating exploration of many genuinely beneficial treatments.

In the last two decades, as a wide array of practices have gained greater acceptance as potential forms of treatment and healing, the terms used to describe them have evolved as well. Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, was once the common name for therapies once considered “alternative” or “unorthodox.” Today, as physicians integrate more of these treatments into their medical practices, the term CAM has given way to integrative medicine.

Integrative medicine describes the integration of natural or holistic practices into the health-care paradigm to complement conventional Western medicine and promote wellness. Western medicine can accomplish incredible feats of healing, but as advanced as it is, it still doesn’t have cures for everything. Relying solely on conventional Western medicine, people often wait until they have serious health problems before seeking care—but integrative medicine includes many practices that are particularly good for preventing certain conditions and ameliorating the effects of others, making it a valuable adjunct to conventional care.

The therapies discussed in this course have been shown to help people reach health goals such as pre-surgery preparation, post-surgery recovery, and better management—and reduction—of chronic pain. The advent of integrative medicine has been revolutionizing Western medical care as doctors realize that their options for patient care can be expanded to a plethora of complementary practices that directly benefit wellness and can help alleviate, prevent, or remedy issues such as arthritis, chronic back or neck pain, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, stress, heart disease, menopause, and the common cold.